–zero–

Jaebum jolts up in his seat, blinking blearily as his vision swims. A glance at his watch tells him that he only fell asleep for twenty minutes, but that doesn't feel right. Sure enough, when he eases himself out of his worn armchair and pulls back the thick, dark curtains that cover the wall of windows, sunlight comes flooding into the room.

"Ah, ," he groans, pushing the curtains back with one hand while he rubs white spots out of his sight with the other. With the sun as bright as it is it must at least be midday, how the hell did he end up sleeping so late? Jaebum fishes his phone out of his pocket and taps the screen, to no effect. "The ? I could've sworn I charged this yesterday, or was it the day before?" Jaebum mumbles to himself.

At any rate, his dead phone explains why he hasn't had Jinyoung in his business with his pushy concern. No matter how many times Jaebum has made it clear that he's going to have to push himself until he finally gets the PASIV right and seals his contract with the military, his friend keeps insisting on meeting ridiculous demands like eating regularly, getting six hours sleep every night, leaving his house and socialising with people. Jaebum will have time for all that and more if–when–he finishes the device, but for now, he'll carry on. All he has to do now is finish trials to ensure that the gas-tight reciprocating pump accurately measures and dispenses the Somnacin from its vial through the IV infusion line.

"I'm almost there," Jaebum yawns, stretching his arms over his head. He recoils as a sour stench hits his nose. "I guess it couldn't hurt to shower," he says a bit sheepishly.

Thirty minutes later, Jaebum steps out of the shower, having scrubbed away more layers of grime than he thought he could've accumulated just by sitting at his desk for a week. He's drying his hair with a towel when the mechanical beeping of the video intercom goes off. Jaebum frowns. Jinyoung will occasionally drop by to deliver food, but he'll just let himself inside and no one else comes to visit, definitely not without prior notice.

"Uh, hello? This is the residence of Im Jaebum, right? Park Jinyoung sent me," says a man with an innocent face and a foreign accent.

Jaebum an eyebrow, but presses the button to let the man inside. He hangs his towel across the back of his neck and saunters into the living room, not bothering to throw on a shirt. "Since when does Jinyoung send others to do his dirty work?" Jaebum drawls. "And who are you, anyway?"

"Um, since today?" the man shrugs, the movement awkward with his hands full. "And my name is Mark, Mark Tuan," he says as he rests two large plastic bags on the table.

"How do you know Jinyoung? He's never mentioned you to me before," Jaebum runs his eyes up and down the other man's body. Mark crosses his arms over his chest. Distantly, Jaebum is aware that he's being rude, with his questions and general disposition, but he's too thrown off by the new presence to really care enough to correct his behaviour.

"We shared some classes at university, but I went back home after graduation and only returned to Korea about three months ago. That might be why," Mark shrugs. "Plus, Jinyoung said you've been...occupied with work for a while," Mark glances through the open door to Jaebum's work room that's currently littered with spare parts, odd ends and stray bits of metal.

Jaebum steps to the right, blocking the other man's view. "Well, you've done what you came to do, right?" He crosses his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, right," Mark nods. Jaebum stares at him without speaking, his fingers tapping his biceps. "Well, I guess I'll let myself out. It was...interesting to finally meet you, Jaebum," Mark's lips briefly quirk up before he turns and heads for the front door.

"Was I even more prickly than Jinyoung said I was?" Jaebum can't stop himself from calling out.

"Hmmm, no, just about," Mark hums thoughtfully as he opens the door and steps outside, "but you were definitely hotter than I expected," he winks just before he disappears from view, closing the door in front of him.

Jaebum blinks, surprise and amusement and something else coursing through his veins. Shaking his head with a chuckle, Jaebum uncrosses his arms and heads over to the table to see what Jinyoung sent him this time.


–one–

"To Im Jaebum's unfailing dedication and hard work!"

"To pushing the boundaries of known science!"

"To being filthy rich at twenty seven!"

Yet another drink is pushed into Jaebum's hand, but half of it ends up sloshing to the ground anyway from the force of the pats on the back people keep giving him. He's already drank at least three times his usual two drink limit and has no intention of nursing a hangover on the heels of achieving his ten year dream, so he simply rests the drink on the nearest flat surface and ducks out of the thick of the group before someone can push another one on him. Jaebum is kind of surprised at how many people turned up for this, considering how little effort he put into befriending them back in school. That's almost certainly Jinyoung's doing–Jinyoung and the prospect of a few free rounds.

"Woah!" Jaebum stumbles back as a warm body comes crashing into him.

"Heh heh, whoopsie, sorry," slurs a familiar looking man.

"Mark? Is that you?" Jaebum tilts his head.

"Yes! Oh my God, I can't believe you remember me!" Mark shouts with excitement, his eyes wide and his pupils even wider.

"What can I say, you made an impression," Jaebum chuckles. "Woah, careful there," he reaches out to grab Mark's shoulders, steadying him before he can fall on his face. "How much have you had to drink?"

"I dunno, lots?" Mark sniggers, his face flushed red. "You and Jinyoung are, like, the only people I know here and I've only met you once, and Jinyoung's disappeared somewhere and people keep offering me drinks," he babbles. "Congratulations, by the way."

"Thanks," Jaebum nods, a smile tugging at his lips. He's been hearing the words all night, but Mark says them a bit differently from everyone else.

"Super hot and super smart, you really are a catch," Mark giggles as he leans forward and clumsily wraps his arms around Jaebum's neck. Jaebum's smile widens.

"There you are, Mark," Jinyoung's voice comes from behind. "Oh, well, you two seem to be getting along quite well," Jinyoung grins, his eyes glinting as they take in the way Jaebum and Mark are standing.

"He's smells so good, I love him," Mark titters. He buries his face at the junction of Jaebum's neck and shoulder, "I love yooooou." Jaebum shivers at the tickling sensation of Mark's warm, moist breath against his skin.

"I'm happy for you both," Jinyoung nods distractedly, already scrolling through his phone. "Look after him while I arrange a taxi for him, okay?"

"I could take him home," Jaebum blurts out. Jinyoung looks up from his phone, his left eyebrow climbing into his hairline. "Not like the way people mean when they want to have , but–"

"I was not thinking that, actually," Jinyoung's right eyebrow jumps, joining his left one.

"Oh," Jaebum blinks, his face warm from more than just the shots he's downed.

"Who's having ?" Mark gasps, lifting his head and looking around curiously. "Is it us?" He stage whispers to Jaebum.

Jinyoung's lower lip twitches before his expression smooths out. "If this were any other time, I might not mind, but I am not going to let you skip out on your own celebratory party–not after three years of self imposed solitude," he says in his 'This is final' voice before he dials the number for the taxi.

Jaebum huffs out a sigh before he turns his attention back to the man who is now swaying in his arms. "The music here , but it's okay, we can still dance," Mark mumbles, his lips brushing Jaebum's ears.

Making a snap decision, Jaebum reaches a hand into the other man's pockets and fishes out his phone. Luckily, it doesn't require a password to unlock. Still, Jaebum lightly tugs on a stray lock of Mark's hair, "That's sloppy; you should protect your ." Mark hums in response, his eyes drooping as he rests his head on Jaebum's shoulder. Jaebum has only just enough time to save his name and leave a (horribly misspelled) message before Jinyoung turns back to them.

"I'm gonna see him off now. You had better be talking and laughing with people by the time I get back," Jinyoung narrows his eyes at Jaebum as he wraps an arm around Mark's waist to support him. Jaebum nods obediently. "Good."

"Bye-bye, Jaebum," Mark waves.

"See you later," Jaebum waves back, lazy grin stretching across his face. 'Hopefully,' he thinks.


–two–

"Ugh, where's this box supposed to go again?" Jaebum leans his back against a wall and lifts his knee to support the cardboard box in his arms.

"Move your hands, I can't see the label," Mark crouches down in front of him, trying to get a good look at the underside of the box. "It says 'Misc'. Hmmm, that could mean any number of things."

"Mark," Jaebum groans, throwing his head back.

"Best to just drop it in the extra room for now," Mark straightens up and nudges Jaebum forward with a pat on the .

"You know, we could've just hired a company to do all this for us. We can more than afford it," Jaebum calls over his shoulder as he heads into the spare room and sets the box down at last.

"Yeah, but penny pinching is how people actually stay rich," Mark counters. "Besides, hiring someone feels a bit too impersonal for this. This is our new house, we should be the ones to move and merge our stuff together," Mark smiles, his chest puffing out slightly. Jaebum can't help the matching smile that spreads across his face.

"Yeah, you're right," he nods.

"Of course I am," Mark pats him on the chest condescendingly. "Plus, you spent how many years toiling away school and slaving over your dream device, you can make it through one single weekend of unpacking without being a baby about it," Mark playfully sticks out his tongue. Jaebum grabs him by the waist and that tongue into his mouth before Mark can retract it.

"Alright, but let's take a break first," Jaebum mumbles against Mark's lips.

"Whatever happened to your sterling work ethic?" Mark moans. Even so, Jaebum feels hands gripping his hair and clutching at his back.

"You know what they say about all work and no play," Jaebum blindly shuffles backward, stopping and letting himself fall when his shin hits something soft.

"You've got ten minutes," Mark groans, his eyes rolling inside his head as Jaebum's lips attack his neck and a hand slips inside his sweatpants.

"Twenty," Jaebum counters, moving his lips down to Mark's collarbone.

"Ten," Mark says flatly, not even bothering to open his eyes.

"Pffft, whatever, as if you're gonna be able to keep track of time anyway," Jaebum scoffs before he tackles Mark to the sofa.

It's cramped and awkward with their skin sticking to the leather, there's barely any room to manoeuvre and the curtains haven't been put over the glass wall behind the sofa, but the magic of the their bodies joining for the first time in the house they bought together drowns all of that out.

"Ahhh, oh, God, I love you," Mark gasps, his breath hot and wet against Jaebum's ear.


–three–

"I can't believe it," Jaebum gasps as his eyes catch sight of a certain word in the arts section of his newspaper. "Mark, have you seen this? A local university is considering making the PASIV part of their art and architecture courses!" Jaebum leans across the table, waving the article in front of Mark, but he barely glances up.

"Oh, that's great, good job," Mark drones, his head in his hand.

"What's with you?" Jaebum pouts, deflating slightly.

"Nothing," Mark mumbles. Jaebum reaches out a hand and lifts the other man's chin. There's a sadness in his eyes that makes Jaebum's heart ache.

"Mark, please."

Mark sighs deeply before he shuffles the pile of paper in front of him and holds up a card with fancy gold writing. "My brother's getting married."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Jaebum frowns.

"Well, yeah, it is and I'm happy for him, don't get me wrong..."

"But?"

"But I'm also kinda jealous, I guess, since we wouldn't–" he cuts himself off. "Nevermind," he shakes his head, lowering his arm.

"No, is that what's upsetting you, you want us to get married?"

"I'm not...unhappy with the way we are and I could happily continue like this, but it, I dunno, it makes me sad that our relationship will never have the same standing as other couples, even if we've been together much longer."

"Then let's get married," Jaebum says plainly. Mark looks at him as if he's gone mad.

"We can't."

"Not here, no, but there's a place where we can do whatever we want."

Mark's face remains clouded with confusion for a few more seconds before realisation dawns. "Oh."

"Come on, let's go," Jaebum gets up out of his chair and pulls Mark to his feet.

"Where?" Mark asks, letting himself get tugged through the hallway.

"To get married," Jaebum says simply as he retrieves his old PASIV from his work room.

"Now?" Mark laughs lightly, looking equal parts fond and confused.

"Why not?" Jaebum shrugs, setting the device on the table in the living room and pulling out two IV lines.

"You know the dream world still creeps me out, right?" Mark drawls, though he rolls up his sleeve and makes himself comfortable on the sofa.

With one push of the injection activation trigger, the two of them go from dozing on their sofa to standing on a stage in a large hall that's fully decked out with fairy lights and red roses. What really raises Mark's eyebrows isn't just the setting, but also the people in it. If Mark didn't know any better, he'd swear this was actually happening.

"Jaebum, this is amazing," Mark says in a hushed voice.

"But?" Jaebum frowns.

"But it isn't real," Mark sighs wistfully, staring at the projections milling about in the hall as they talk over drinks and canapés.

Jaebum gently squeezes his hand, prompting Mark to look at him. "It's as real as we want it to be," he whispers, leaning in to wrap Mark up in a kiss. When he pulls away, the scenery has changed. The two of them are alone, standing in a large garden that's been decorated with white paper lanterns and flowers.

"Is this...This is my old backyard!" Mark beams as he spins around. "You even made that one weird patch of grass that stays brown no matter what my mother sprays on it," he chuckles, shaking his head in disbelief. "I just wish my parents were here."

"Hey, that's the beauty of the PASIV; you can elope without consequence," Jaebum jokes.

"I don't see a ring," Mark says coyly.

Jaebum smirks and pulls a black box out of his pocket. "With this ring, I do thee wed," he says solemnly, slipping a plain white gold band onto the fourth finger of Mark's left hand. "And I will now kiss the groom," he pulls Mark against him and seals their mouths together.

"I love you," Mark moans into his mouth. "Really," he pulls away just enough to stare into Jaebum's eyes, "thank you for this. It means a lot to me." Jaebum feels his heart softening and fluttering in his chest at the same time. "Come on, time for a scene change. We can't have our honeymoon in my parents' backyard."

Jaebum chuckles, bending down to scoop Mark up bridal style. "Any requests?"

"Somewhere semi public, like the roof of a building? I like the idea of exhibitionism without the exhibition," Mark giggles. "And don't forget to make a bed."

"I never knew that," Jaebum laughs, his eyes scrunching up in delight. "I'm so glad we're not going to be like one of those boring married couples with no surprises or spontaneity."

"Less talking, more building," Mark lightly slaps his chest.

"Another perk of the dream," Jaebum grins, "we've got all the time in the world."


–four–

'hey, it's me :D just wanted to tell my beloved husband how much i love him ♥♥♥ im stuck in traffic right now and it's driving me crazy :c'

'Omg get off the phone. Haven't you seen all those adverts about texting while driving???'

'im not even moving tho. im literally just sitting in place, may as well turn off the engine >:| besides, you replied'

'To tell you to get off the phone!!! And I'm not driving so :P'

'omggggg you just used an emoji xD'

'Now will you get off the phone?'

'sure sure, see you at home. love you!♥♥'


–five (one)–

"Jaebum, please pick up. I know it's hard, but isolating yourself is the worst thing you can do right now. You don't have to stay long or talk to anyone, but you should at least show your face, accept some human comfo–"

The phone beeps, cutting off Jinyoung's message. Jaebum expects his phone to rattle with vibrations again, but it sits beside him on his desk, silent as the rest of the house; Jaebum winces. The back of his eyes sting at that thought, but they remain dry. It's been a little over a week and he still hasn't cried yet, mostly because he's been too numb, but even that shield is starting to crumble. There's a wake going on, and the flower arrangements in the corner of his living room are slowly starting to wilt, and he's gotten at least two calls about a will reading, and it's all too real now.

"N-n-no, I can't," Jaebum chokes, struggling to his feet and stumbling towards his work room. He makes a beeline for the small cupboard in the far corner of the room and pulls out a metal case. It's an old prototype, one that hasn't had any maintenance checks performed on it in several years, but Jaebum doesn't hesitate to pull out an IV line. After a few minutes of fumbling, Jaebum is closing his eyes and slumping to the floor as the Somnacin takes effect.

He opens his eyes and finds himself in a garden that's overrun with weeds and littered with yellowed bits of paper.

"Jaebum?"

Jaebum spins on his heel. It's technically only been a week since the last time he saw Mark, but it feels like it's been decades. Jaebum bounds forward and grabs the other man in a tackle. The skin of his cheek is warm against Jaebum's cheek and his body fits in Jaebum's arms exactly the way it used to fit.

"Mark," he breathes, tightening his hold.

"Jaebum, you shouldn't be here," Mark says, even as he wraps his arms around Jaebum's body and holds him back.

"Why? It's where you are," Jaebum buries his face at the junction of Mark's neck and shoulder. If he inhales deeply enough, he can pretend to smell that fresh, masculine scent that clung to Mark's skin.

"You know that's not true, not really."

The truth in his words stab Jaebum in the chest like a dagger made of ice. "I didn't even get to say goodbye," Jaebum croaks, his voice cracking as tears stream down his face. "And there's so many things we didn't get to do."

"I know, and it's not fair, but the time that we did have was good, right?"

"It was great," Jaebum sniffs.

"See?" Jaebum can hear the smile in his voice. "Jaebum, you have to let me go," Mark says softly as he gently runs a hand up and down Jaebum's back, because that's what he would say. "I love you, Jaebum." Jaebum clenches his eyes shut as a pang of longing ripples through his entire body. How tempting it would be to keep going under–or just stay here–so he could hear those words said by that voice over and over again. "I love you, and that's why you have to let me go. I don't want you to die with me."

Jaebum inhales sharply, trying to stave off an influx of tears. "Can I at least stay until the Somnacin runs out?" In response, Mark presses a soft kiss onto both of his cheeks and carefully lowers them both to the ground.

The two of them lie there in each other's arms for what could be twelve minutes or three hours-time is difficult to judge in a dream.

"I miss you so much, it hurts," Jaebum whispers fiercely.

"I know," Mark replies.

"I love you," Jaebum pulls away to stare into Mark's eyes. "I never said it enough. I wish I had told you everyday."

Mark just smiles, brushing a stray tear off Jaebum's cheek. Jaebum closes his eyes and savours the sensation. When he opens his eyes again, he's sprawled out on the floor of his work room, a crick forming in his neck. For a long moment, Jaebum just lies there, his limbs heavy and his mouth dry. The sound of buzzing echoes through his empty house before he hears the front door opening.

"Jaebum, where are you?" It's only Jinyoung, of course. Jaebum eases himself off the floor, his bones cracking, and heads for the living room.

"I want to see him," he says before Jinyoung finishes opening his mouth.

"Oh, well, sure," he nods. "Get dressed, I'll be waiting."

After Jaebum has shaved, brushed his teeth, and washed a week's worth of grease and grime off his skin and hair, he pulls on a black suit and steps into the living room.

"I'm ready," Jaebum tells Jinyoung, but he finds himself hesitating at the door when they finally arrive at the funeral hall.

"Hey," Jinyoung rests a comforting hand on his shoulder, "you can do this." Jaebum nods and steps inside.

He's surprised to find that Mark looks the same as he did in the dream, if somewhat paler. It's unlikely that his body would be displayed if it couldn't be cleaned up, but the description of the crash had Jaebum imaging him as an unrecognizable mess. Jaebum feels something relax in his chest at the sight, even as his heart weeps.

"Sorry I kept you waiting," Jaebum says softly as he eases into a bow. "Thanks for talking sense into me, earlier. First thing I'm gonna do when I get back is destroy the PASIV. After that, I don't know," he shrugs. "I'm gonna have to take the days as they come."

Jaebum falls silent, watching Mark's unnaturally still face for a while. If he lets his eyes go unfocused, he can imagine the slight movement of Mark's chest. He shakes his head.

"I can't stay any longer today, but I promise I won't be gone as long as I was before. Goodbye, Mark. I love you."